I'm with you in not caring for salad dressings at all. The oil ones are too oily and I can't stand mayo in anything. The smell of ranch and french dressings is enough to make me not want to eat.

Ive found that salsa is a good alternative to make a salad less dry, but if you don't care for tomatoes, that is a no-go. I also have found that the a little pickle juice is decent as well (so basically a vinaigrette without the oil). I always choose spinach over iceberg lettuce as well, which helps with the flavor.

think of vegetables as part of other dishes. things like dirty rice can be made with peppers and onion [and you can chop the vegetable to be the same size as the rice so it's not as noticeable for those of us who don't love the texture] to increase the veg while still eating something that i like. pretty much every vegetarian cookbook you can find has a ton of these pasta and veg dishes [and you may even find some cooked vegetable and grain salads you like].

one thing i did in the dining hall was to incorporate the salad bar into the main dish. in other words, get a regular plate, put some broccoli on it, top the broccoli with the pasta entree [which would then heat up the broccoli] like mac and cheese and have that. so i was having something i like with something i was learning to like. do keep in mind that when you are learning to like something it's not the time to put two cups of it on your plate, it's the time to put two florets [or some other small unit that means you can eat all of the new food in a few bites] on the plate while you start to adjust to how you like things.

one of my favorite things to do with raw spinach is to top it with oranges or other citrus. as you bite into the citrus it adds a little wet and i like it in place of dressing.

That dressing actually doesn't sound bad! The creamy, thicker ones are the ones that I really dislike, but something light like that sounds good, and the salad with apples in it actually sounds yummy! I'm moving off the meal plan after this semester so I'll be doing lots of sandwiches and yogurt cups and things that are easy in a tiny dorm.

whir with an immersion blender. You can keep all this on-hand in a dorm fridge/freezer and an immersion blender is $30. That is how I get three servings of fruits/veggies to start your day. You can't even taste the spinach. Just be sure to look in the mirror after you drink in case you have anything green in your teeth LOL.

Not sure about eating in a dorm cafeteria, but about the veggies: I've been there.

I'm getting back into salads, and I actually prefer lettuce, kale, and spinach chopped roughly. I'll add cucumbers and green peppers or apple pieces and pecans.

As for dressings... you don't like ANY? There are so many different types and flavours! If you like fruit, what about a raspberry vinagrette?

My favourite I make myself. Equal parts of: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and brown sugar. It's lovely and sweet and with the greens and apple and pecans and some hemp hearts or something it's delicious. Sure, there's sugar and oil in the dressing, but I figure that without the dressing, i wouldn't eat all the veggies, so it's a fair trade-off.

I don't know how realistic all of these are if you're only using a cafeteria...Maybe you could buy some hummus and use 2 tbsp of that instead of dressing? Salads are a better option with a tiny bit of fat. You can add veggies to sandwiches, pasta dishes, eggs, and soups are basically the best thing ever. I also found you can cook quite a large variety of stuff using a microwave when I lived in the dorms.

I never recommend a salad bar; it's a myth that salads are always the healthier choice. I personally think at a restaurant, you're usually better off with grilled chicken, steak, or fish with healthy sides. I never ate veggies before, but I've found some that I like. So try some new things. I like grilled asparagus, which I had never even had before but staunchly refused to eat. If you like spinach, that's also good side choice. Iceberg lettuce isn't really even that nutritious, so I never go for the salads at restaurants.

When I make them at home, I like to use spinach, and I put red and yellow pepper, craisins, and feta on it.

Hey all, I have been a picky eater since baby food (wouldn't eat the tomato one - still don't like tomatoes or tomato based foods) and veggies make up the majority of my "don't like" list. I want to start incorporating more of them into what I eat, but I really only like raw carrots at this point. If I eat a salad it is without dressing (not a fan of the stuff) and it's pretty much raw lettuce, spinach, and carrots, and some meat. I love fruit and when the dining hall has it (i'm in college and fresh fruit in the dining hall other than the apples they have every day is rare) I am quick to load up my plate. I guess I'm wondering what healthy options you guys recommend besides the salad bar?

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